Earlier this summer I started to experiment with using a glitter filled epoxy as a substitute inlay material when making Christmas OrnamentEZ for EZ-Wreath. This entry talks about the process I went through to make these ornaments.

Because I’m a fan of Purple Heart (PH), I just love the deep rich violet color the wood turns after a little exposure to light, I chose it for my base material. Well that and I had more PH sitting around than any other wood… Still not a bad choice. :)

I used a two layer inlay kit to build the ornaments. Alignment marks are used to align the Pattern 1 layer to the Pattern 2 layer.

Along with the templates the kit contains a cutout of each shape along with alignment marks. Using a pencil I traced out the Pattern 2 shape and alignment marks on the PH base material for each ornament in the kit.

Using the alignment marks I positioned and double sided duct taped the Pattern 1 cutout over the appropriate shape. Using a plunge router I routed the Pattern 1 VOID into each Ornament.

After talking with the folks down at Woodcraft I decided to try a Mirror Coat epoxy to mix the glitter into for the inlay material. I went down to the local crafts store and got a bunch of glitter sample packs. Blown away by the different colors, sizes, and textures of glitter!!!

Yeah… I guess you could say I had a fun with glitter day! :D

After the epoxy dried I positioned and double sided duct taped the Pattern 2 cutout over the appropriate shape. Using a plunge router the Pattern 2 INLAY was cut from from the base material. Finally each ornament was sanded and finished to the picture you see at the top.